The United States of America, the beacon of hope and democracy for millions across the globe, has long attracted the best and brightest to reach their highest potential in a relatively free environment.
Recently, immensely tragically, a group of approximately 30 people, 20 of whom were children, lost their lives in Newtown, Conn., when a gunman opened fire in an elementary school.
In light of such a recent tragedy, it is time for the United States to reevaluate the status quo of its lax gun control laws.
What happened in Connecticut should never have occurred. The United States has some of the most lax gun control laws in the world, making it relatively easy for anyone to acquire a firearm.
Because the United States has failed to take action and preventative measures concerning guns, we have witnessed countless tragedies that could have never materialized.
This is a wake-up call to our nation.
How many people must prematurely lose their lives before Congress, the president and state governments take action to restrict the flow of guns in the nation and pass legislation to ensure guns do not end up in the wrong hands?
How many countless times must we turn on our television sets and grieve for those who have passed away because action was not taken? How many calls for gun reform must occur before substantial legislation is passed, and America can once and for all heal itself from these deep wounds that keep reopening?
We can no longer have profoundly upsetting events like those in Newtown rock the social fabric of the United States because we have not taken the necessary measures.
The country, over the past years, has witnessed too many repercussions of lax gun control - Gabby Giffords, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., a shopping mall in Oregon, and now an elementary school in Connecticut.
How many tragic affairs like this must take place until our nation is galvanized to take action and solve this problem?
Dec. 14th will live in history as one of the most deeply disturbing events to make our entire nation tremble and grieve together.
We will hopefully remember it as another day, one in which the nation finally decided to come together and ensure that events like this no longer happen. Our country has allowed millions to reach their highest potential, but these events prematurely ended those realizations for 26 people in Newtown.
Let us end this atrocity, remember those whose lives were lost, and pass meaningful legislation to ensure nothing this tragic happens again.
Michael Keramidas
Altoona
